Pakistan knows how to hit back, says COAS in reply to Indian threats

RAWALPINDI: Just hours after Indian media hinted that few country politicians and army officials were urging Narendra Modi’s government to think about cross-border strikes, the army chief said ‘Pakistan was fully prepared.’

Chief of the Army Staffs (COAS) General Raheel Sharif was chairing a Corps Commanders Conference at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Monday.

The forum, led by COAS, had an in-depth review of external and internal security situation and operational preparedness of the Pakistan army.

Taking notice of a hostile narrative being propagated by India, General Raheel Sharif said, “We are fully cognizant and closely watching the latest happenings in the region and their impact on the security of Pakistan.”

Expressing his satisfaction over the operational preparedness of the army, COAS said the armed forces of Pakistan are fully prepared to respond to the entire spectrum of direct and indirect threat.

Pakistan’s armed forces with a resilient nation have surmounted every challenge and will thwart any sinister design against the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan in the future as well, said the COAS.

Commending the steady progress of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, COAS paid glowing tributes to officers and men of army, frontier constabulary (FC), Rangers and police who are rendering supreme sacrifices while successfully fighting against terrorists across the length and breadth of the country.

India weighs response to Kashmir attack

India on Monday weighed its response to a raid on an army base in Kashmir, which fuelled tensions with Pakistan, as some politicians called for military action after the worst attack of its kind in over a decade.

New Delhi has claimed that Pakistan was behind Sunday’s attack in which 17 soldiers were killed, raising the prospect of a military escalation in the already tense disputed Himalayan region.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised those responsible would not go unpunished.

Islamabad on Monday accused New Delhi of trying to deflect attention from that unrest with what it called “vitriolic and unsubstantiated statements”.

“It is a blatant attempt on India’s part to deflect attention from the fast deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation in the Indian-occupied Kashmir since the death of Burhan Wani,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.